Anon: "And the removal of hereditory peers ... what was all that about then ?"

That's simple. It was about removing the situation where Tony Blair would have to promote six hundred of his subscribers to the Lords to give him a chance to control Parliament. Getting rid of the hereditary peers, means he only had to promote thirty or so.

Tony Blair's ya man. Brown's ... brown and out ! Blair is the Caesar in waiting.

Excellent manoeuvring when faced with adversity - the arch socialist whose default mode is to pounce on failure and to capture populist emotion.

His success is born of his ability to leech off of the failings of others. Therefore plenty of scope within the EU, especially since his open conversion to Catholicism.

Brown would never have got into office without him. And now Brown is doomed to misery - a grey, cadaverous remnant. Blair youthful and invigorated - sated by the blood of our finest youth and the demise of the country he hates.